Tesla, SpaceX shares decline as Musk prepares for Starship test flight
SpaceX founder Elon Musk addresses members of the media at a press conference announcing new developments on the Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on October 10, 2019.
Philip Pacheco | Afp | Getty Images
It’s been a tough week for Elon Musk.
Tesla’s Its shares fell 18% for the week, closing at $313.03 on Friday; This marked its worst weekly decline since 2022. And SpaceX’s shares continued their slide, falling 7.2% in five days to close at $115.07 on Friday, the lowest since the company’s record IPO last month.
The declines in both stocks wiped out Musk’s fortune of nearly $130 billion, weeks after he became the world’s first trillionaire. One Publish on X On Friday, Musk wrote: “(Former) trillionaire.”
Tesla’s collapse was fueled by weaker-than-expected earnings after the electric vehicle maker reported second-quarter results late Wednesday. The company turned its cash flow negative due to an increase in spending on futuristic projects such as robotaxis, humanoid robots and a giant chip factory.
“We expect this to depress free cash flow and delay earnings growth without generating shareholder returns in the near term,” analysts at Argus Research, which has a hold rating on the stock, wrote in a report Friday. he wrote. “We believe it will be nearly impossible for Tesla to generate any consistency in profit growth in the near term.”
Tesla’s shares are now down 30% for the year, making it by far the worst performer among tech megacaps.
Meanwhile, SpaceX’s shares have been on a steady downward trend over the past month after an initial rise that began when the company went public. Shares have fallen in four of the last five weeks and are down about 43% from their peak close on June 16.
On Friday evening, SpaceX will once again attempt the 13th test flight of Starship, the largest rocket ever built or flown. The company plans to fly the new version of the rocket, Starship V3, from its company town and launch facility in Starbase, Texas. The rocket is designed to be fully reusable and is vital to SpaceX’s near-term goals to greatly expand its Starlink satellite network.
In a post about X, owned by SpaceX, the company said It postponed the test flight planned for Thursday “due to weather conditions”. SpaceX previously conducted a test flight last week after the rocket’s booster triggered a hold that “shuts down the engines as soon as they start firing,” a SpaceX employee said during the livestream of the event.
The successful launch of Starship V3, an upgraded version of its nearly 400-foot rocket, would be the company’s first since its IPO.
SpaceX plans to use Starship to bring US astronauts back to the lunar surface, and Musk wants the rocket to eventually power manned missions to Mars.
Musk made his public appearance this week, sitting down for a controversial interview with The Economist.
Zanny Minton Beddoes, the publication’s editor-in-chief, asked Musk about his support for “not just the populist right, but also the far right, actually very extreme parties in some countries.”
In addition to his financial and vocal support for President Donald Trump, including his run for the second administration, Musk has also supported Germany’s AfD, an extreme anti-immigrant party, as well as the United Kingdom’s Restore Britain party, founded by Rupert Lowe, which also calls for “reversing mass immigration.”
“These are just normal people!” Musk said in response. He chided Beddoes and the “traditional media” for their “absurd characterization of the far right.”
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